I made Cheddar Scallion Scones

I felt like baking the other day. I really didn't have any reason to bake apart from the fact that it was snowing outside and baking is always a nice cozy activity to pass the time when you really don't want to go outside. The catch was, of course, that because I didn't want to go outside, I needed to bake something with ingredients that I already had. Earlier that day, I read a recipe for cheddar chipotle scones on one of my favorite food blogs, Serious Eats, but it called for sour cream and other things I didn't have at home, so I did an old fashioned Google search and found the recipe below for cheddar scallion scones.

Miraculolusly, I had all the ingredients.

Cheddar Scallion Scones (from the blog Grow Cook Eat)

I should mention that the original recipe was for BACON cheddar scallion scones, but I didn't have any bacon at home. I certainly am all for adding bacon to the recipe though, don't get me wrong.

3 slices bacon, chopped (optional)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces) I used a mix of white and yellow cheddar.
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 scallions, washed and cut into rings.
3/4 cup chilled whipping cream (or combination of milk and cream)
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 375°F.

If using bacon: Put bacon in a skillet, and cook over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy. Drain bacon on a paper towel.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter using your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese. Whisk cream, mustard and egg in small bowl, and add the scallions and the bacon. Add cream mixture to flour mixture and gently knead until just combined.



Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Gather dough together; divide in half. Pat each half into 6-inch round. Cut each round into 6 wedges. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.



Bake scones until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Transfer scones to rack and cool at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. They can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. If desired, rewarm in 350°F oven about 5 minutes.)

I think these scones would also taste delicious with a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. I also think that it would be cool to add some more grated cheese to the tops of the scones about 2 minutes before they come out of the oven, so that it gets nice and baked in and toasty.

These scones were flavorful and fragrant from the scallions. The sharp cheddar and addition of the dijon mustard made them a little tangy. There was also a nice salty/sweet thing going on. Definitely easy to make. I recommend you do!

Cream Scones with Currants made by Alena and Hill

I keep craving "perfect winter foods" these days, and scones certainly fit the bill. Hillary and I have been talking about making scones for some time now. We finally got around to attempting them on a cozy, snowy Saturday afternoon. They were actually much easier and faster to make than I anticipated, which is an added bonus.

I really wouldn't change anything about the recipe below - however in the future I might experiment with different flavors such as chocolate chips, dried cranberries or crystallized ginger....or even all of those things together.

Cream Scones (From America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook)



2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup currants
1 cup heavy cream

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in large bowl or work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.

If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in currants. If using food processor,remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add currants and pulse one more time. Transfer dough to large bowl.

Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds.







Form scones by either a) pressing the dough into an 8-inch cake pan, then turning the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, cutting the dough into 8 wedges with either a knife or bench scraper (the book’s suggestion) or b) patting the dough onto a lightly floured work surface into a 3/4-inch thick circle, cutting pieces with a biscuit cutter (as you can see we used the lid of a jar!), and pressing remaining scraps back into another piece and cutting until dough has been used up.







Before baking, we also scored the edges of the scones with a knife to make them look more finished, or cuter, really. Scones are pretty cute no matter what, but this technique makes them a tiny bit cuter.

Place rounds or wedges on ungreased baking sheet and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.



As the scones baked, we prepared some tea and got all the fixings ready for a little tea party. After researching the traditional pairing for scones, clotted cream, we discovered that it is virtually impossible to recreate at home, so we settled on making some traditional whipped cream. We did this the old fashioned way, with just a chilled bowl, a whisk, and lots of stirring. Making whipped cream this way teaches patience and endurance. We added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and approximately two teaspoons of sugar to the cream, however, since the scones are nice and sweet, in the future I would leave out the sugar when making whipped cream as a scone topping.



Tea party!